"Swish swish!"
With the refined-iron sickle in hand, although the blood-marrow rice had tough stalks and leaves, it could only resign itself to being harvested.
Meanwhile, nearby, Huang Yue of the Spirit Plant Hall was already taking notes.
The immortal seedling disciples who had chosen the path of spirit cultivation basically all completed their harvests during this period.
The yield and quality of the spirit grain were the assessment standards of the Spirit Plant Hall.
While Lin Donglai had already been internally selected thanks to Senior Sister Jiang Biling's recommendation, coupled with his Lower-Grade Jia Wood Spirit Body, the other immortal seedling disciples needed to pass the Spirit Plant Hall's assessment to become disciples of the Immortal Seedling Hall.
After harvesting came threshing. When a full large basket of blood-marrow rice was weighed, Lin Donglai couldn't help breaking into an old farmer's smile.
"Two fen of spirit field produced eighty-eight jin. After hulling into rice, it should come to over seventy jin."
"Three hundred jin per mu counts as passing. Junior Brother Lin, yours is less than a mu, but converted, that's a yield of about four hundred jin per mu—fully qualified."
"It's all thanks to the good soil of this Spirit Grain Valley. Past generations of immortal seedlings invested resources here," Lin Donglai said with a smile. "If we plant another season next year, the fertility and spiritual qi here won't be sufficient anymore. Fertilizer will have to be purchased."
"You're too modest, Junior Brother." Huang Yue gave him a rating of Upper-B.
"That plot over there—you planted kidney-essence grass, right?" Huang Yue pointed at another two fen of spirit field. Two hundred kidney-essence grass seeds had produced over one hundred eighty seedlings; some had died along the way, leaving only about one hundred fifty-odd plants, but all were healthy and very vigorous.
"A senior brother from the Alchemy Hall asked me to plant those. He provided the seeds too—I'm just practicing my technique."
Huang Yue nodded, but still said, "You've already successfully grown a Grade One Low-Grade spirit rice. In theory, you could go straight to trying Grade One Low-Grade spirit herbs. Practicing with these unranked spirit herbs isn't bad either."
"But you mustn't neglect your cultivation either," Huang Yue said. "It's been over four months since you entered the hall, Junior Brother. Why hasn't your cultivation reached Qi Refining Second Layer? Once you reach the Second Layer, you can learn spirit plant spells. With spells to assist you, tending one or two mu of land would be no problem at all—unlike now, when your cultivation is insufficient and your energy limited, so you can only farm these few fen."
"These seventy jin of spirit rice, at two jin a day, would last you barely a month. Even if you sold it for spirit stones, you'd only get seven stones. Deducting two stones for the seeds, half a year of toil earned you just five spirit stones. Working menial tasks for the Merit Hall would earn you more than that."
Lin Donglai smiled. "Having learned a skill, these investments are all worth it. My spirit root aptitude is poor. Rather than cultivating hard early on without resources and seeing minimal results, better to spend the time honing my skills."
"By the time I can grow resources like spirit rice and spirit fruit, I can use those resources to aid my cultivation instead. That would actually be faster, and the time wouldn't be wasted."
"With such perseverance, Junior Brother, you'll surely go far on the path of spirit cultivation."
Huang Yue had already heard that this junior brother, ever since taking care of the spirit fields, had never missed a single day—through wind and rain, summer heat and winter cold—building a shed here for his arduous cultivation.
Only on the days ending in three each month, when the Spirit Plant Hall held its grand lectures, and on the first and fifteenth of each month, when the Dharma Lecture Hall expounded on cultivation methods, would he entrust someone else to look after things for a while.
After classes, he would only come to the Spirit Plant Hall to borrow books—quite the air of a plowman-scholar's diligent cultivation.
"Then thank you for the kind words, Senior Sister."
"Right—eight months remain until the immortal seedling period ends. You should break through to Qi Refining Second Layer as soon as possible."
"After this cohort of immortal seedlings graduates, there will be a grand examination. The few with the highest cultivation will also receive commendations: first place will be awarded a High-Grade magical artifact, second and third place a Middle-Grade magical artifact each, and the top ten a bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills."
"Senior Sister, someone like me surely couldn't win even if I break through to Qi Refining Second Layer, right?"
"Correct. Among this cohort of immortal seedlings, there are a few true geniuses who have already been internally selected as disciples by Inner Sect Elders. There are also others who, though not internally selected, are backed by cultivation clans and have considerable cultivation as well.
"You might barely reach Qi Refining Second Layer after two years of cultivation, while they will have already broken through to the Fourth or Fifth Layer after the same two years.
"However, aside from comparing cultivation levels, there are also assessments of other skills. For our Spirit Plant Hall, that means evaluating one's mastery of spirit plant spells and one's knowledge of spirit fields and spirit plants."
However, these skill assessments had no rankings of top three or top ten—only first place received a reward.
"First place in the Spirit Plant Hall can obtain a Azure Origin Fruit."
"An Azure Origin Fruit?" Lin Donglai was curious that such a thing would be used as the reward for first place in spirit plant skills.
"The Azure Origin Fruit is a treasure of our Spirit Plant Hall, a spirit fruit borne by the Azure Origin Wood treasure tree, a Grade Two Low-Grade spirit plant."
"This spirit fruit has only one effect: it purifies the wood spirit root and increases one's affinity with vegetation."
"The fruit is only effective on Qi Refining cultivators, and it is the treasure we spirit farmers dream of."
"Junior Brother Lin, you have a Lower-Grade Jia Wood Body. If you could also obtain an Azure Origin Fruit, it might help awaken your spirit body's potential and quicken your cultivation—at the very least, you wouldn't stagnate without progress in the early Qi Refining stage like those with ordinary inferior five-element spirit roots."
"By your own account, you'll have a chance to break through to the later Qi Refining stage in the future. At the later Qi Refining stage, one can reach Grade Two Low-Grade level in spirit plant skills.
"Even if you cannot break through to Foundation Establishment, you could still become an Elder of our Spirit Plant Hall, respected by all."
Hearing this, Lin Donglai certainly wanted that Azure Origin Fruit, but he didn't force the matter—after all, he hadn't even broken through to Qi Refining Second Layer yet.
Although he had repeatedly studied and contemplated the Sprouting Gestation Art, he had not formally cultivated it yet. As for competing for first place...
"Senior Sister, are all the spirit plant disciples of this cohort here in Spirit Grain Valley?"
If they were all this caliber, Lin Donglai felt he should have a chance.
"These are just the ones without backing. Our Spirit Plant Hall also has Outer Sect Elders who may take their own disciples. Their disciples, or those from clans with suitable backgrounds, also come to learn the craft.
"However, most who study the path of spirit cultivation have ordinary aptitude. In terms of cultivation, reaching Qi Refining Second Layer would already put you in the upper-middle range.
"What matters is one's attainment in spirit plant spells, and one's knowledge of spirit fields and spirit plants.
"You still have a chance to compete. Who knows—maybe an Elder of our Spirit Plant Hall will take a liking to you and accept you as a disciple."
Lin Donglai was rather indifferent about taking a master, but achieving first place in this spirit plant assessment could serve as credentials for later revealing his abilities in this area.
After all, the World-Tree Tongtian Jianmu was the sovereign of all trees, titled the Azure Emperor. When his blessed fields were opened up in the future, he would certainly plant some rare and precious spirit plants.
These resources would definitely need a plausible explanation.
A Lower-Grade Jia Wood Spirit Body, having consumed an Azure Origin Fruit, and considerable talent in the way of spirit cultivation—barely sufficient.
Even breaking through to a realm deemed impossible for those with inferior five-element spirit root aptitude could be attributed to years of accumulation of spirit grain, spirit herbs, spirit fruits, and other such resources.